Road grader



June 29, 1943.

F. E. ARNDT ROAD GRADER Original Filed March 12, 1940 3 Shets-Shet 1 E m m w III!!- FRANKLIN E. ARNDT,

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F. E. ARN DT ROAD GRADER 'June' 29, 1943.

ori inal Filed March 12, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 /Nl/E/v7-o/E-' FRANKLIN ELARNDT, BY m M,

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Patented June 29, 1943 ROAD GRADE!!- Franklin E. Arndt, Gallon, Ohio, asaignor a The Gaiion Iron Works & Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Original application March 12, 1940, Serial a... 323,586. Divided and this application May 3, 1941, Serial No. 391,719

Claims. (Q1. 37-151) My invention relates to road graders and one of its objects is the provision of improved and efficient mechanism for connecting the front end of the road grader vehicle frame to a front steering unit.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved mechanism for actuating from the operators station of a road grader the leaning of the wheels of a front steering wheel unit.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improvements in th structure of support-- Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. i;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1,- looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional line 6-4 of Fig. i.

As shown in Fig. 2, the main supporting frame plan view taken on the 15 is upwardly arched and is supported at its rear end on its wheels I i and at its front end on the wheels II (Figs. 1, 4 and 5). The frame 15 comprises spaced-apart longitudinal side,

beams l8, l8, and as shown in Fig. 2 these spacedapart side beams are connected by the tubular cross braces i9, 20 and 2|. As shown in Figs. 1

Although I have shown in the accompanyin drawings a pull type of road working machine comprising a tongue 23 to the front end of which is adapted to be connected a pulling tractor, it should be understood that my improvements hereinafter described are also useful in a power grader comprising a power plant connected to the rear traction wheels for moving the entire machine along the roadway. I The front wheel steering v mechanism comprises a driving sprocket 2i meshing with a chain 25, the ends of which are connected by means of links 26 and 21 to the bolster 28 mounted on the front axle 29. As shown in Fig. 4, the rear ends of the links 2', 21 have eyes II, II which interloop the U-bolts 32. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the

U-bolts 32, 33 extend through openings in the plates I4, I! and It, 31 on opposite sides of the channels ll, 19 of the bolster 28. The lower ends of the channels 3|. 3! are bolted to the angle irons", 4| and the plates N, 35 and 38, 31 are at the same time bolted to the angle irons The bolster has surmounted thereon a cap 42 which has a central opening in it top. thus be seen that the bolster 2i and thefront axle-tree form a single rigid structure for supporting on the wheels l1, 11 the front end of the vehicle frame IS.

The tubular tongue 23 has rigidly the rear end thereof a vertical plate 43. A tube 44 is secured as by welding to the rear end of the plate 43, and plates 45, ll are welded to the lower and 2, the front and rear wheels are preferably of metal so that the rims thereof will be sufficiently thin to be able'to dig into the road surface when the wheels are leaned in such direction as to resist lateral skidding when the moldboard is in steep bank-cutting position, and under operation by movement of the whole machine along the roadway.

The machine shown in the accompanying drawings includes mechanism for the steering of the front wheels, the leaning of the front wheels, the leaning of the rear wheels, the shifting of the rear end of the main frame laterally relatively to the rear wheels, the shifting of the moldboard laterally and movement thereof to bank sloping position, and the adiustment and locking of the circle. All of the controls extend to a single operator's station or platform 22 at the rear end of the machine, as shown lul -"l8. z. 5

and upper edges of the plate 43 and the lower and upper ends of the tube 44. The plates 45 and 48 are provided with openings which register with openings in the .cup bearing 41 and the bracket bearing 48. The cup bearing 41 i secured to the upper horizontal flange of the angle iron 40. The bracket bearing 48 is secured rigidly to the cap 42 of the bolster 28. A bearing rod 49 may be dropped through the bracket hearing 48, the opening in the plate 46, thetube M, and the opening in the plate 45 with the lower end of the rod 49 in the cup bearing 41. The rod 49 may then be pinned to the bracket bearing 48.

Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically the advantage of the pivot rod 49 being placed in advancecf the center of the steering post 5.. The pulling tractor illustrated in dotted lines at 5| exerts a straight-line pull through the tongue 23 on the pivot I! but at the same time there is a com- 5 ponent of pulling force represented by the line 52 extending forwardly from the center 50 of the steering post. The pull on the pivot point 49 Itwill' secured to aids in steering the steering unit in an anticlockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3.

When the steering wheel 53 at the rear of the machine (Fig. 2) is rotated, the shaft 54 will transmit rotary motion through the universal joints 55, 56, 51 and the links 59, 59 to the worm gearing in the casing 99 and thus rotate the sprocket 24 meshing with the chain 25 and thereby swing the tongue 23 in one direction or the other relatively to the front wheels. A counterbalancing spring 8| is connected to the tongue 23 intermediate its ends and also toa swiveled connection 62 at the top of the post 59, a shown in Fig. 1.

- In order to effect adjustment of the leanin of the front wheels IT, a crank connected to the gearing in the casing H is so manipulated as to secure rotation of the links 94, 65. 99, 91, 99, as

shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. The rotation of these links will rotate the worm 99 and the worm wheel 19 with which it meshes. Keyed to the worm wheel 19 is a pinion II which meshes with the arcuate rack 12, as shown in Fig. 5. The worm 69 and worm wheel 19 are mounted in the casing 13 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The shaft 14 to which the worm wheel I9 and the pinion H are keyed, extends rearwardly so that the pinion ll meshes with the underside of the arcuate rack 12. Asshown in Fig. 5 the arcuate rack 12 is secured to and suspended from the cross link 15, the ends of which are pivoted at 16, 16 to the upper ends of the arms I1, 11, the latter being pivoted on longitudinal axes at 18, 19 to the ends of the axle-tree 29. The lower ends of the arms 11, 11 carry the axle on which the' wheels I1, I! are journaled.

It can readilybe seen by referring to Fig. 5 that when the worm 59 is turned, the wheels l1, l1 will he leaned in either direction while remaining in parallelism. It should beparticularly noted that the bracket "which carries the rack 12 on its lower side, has its end portions curved at 89, 89 with the inner under surfaces approximately conforming to the circumference of the pinion 1|. The arcuate extension 89, 99 prevent the pinion H from overrunning the arcuate rack 12 to sucli an extent as to move beyond the bracket 19. In other words, the arcuate extensions act as limit stops as to the leaning of the Wheels l1, l1 because when the pinion ll moves against the under sides of the arcuate extensions 89, 89, the latter will act as limit stop positively preventing the pinion 1| from being rotated any farther, if any of its teeth are still in mesh with any of the teeth of the arcuate rack. If the pinion H runs entirely out of mesh with the arcuate rack 12, such arcuate extensions 89, 89 will still act as limit stops because they will merely permit the outer ends of the teeth II to slide along the bottom arcuate surfaces of the extension 89 without making any progress, but nevertheless when the pinion II is reversed its teeth will immediately re-mesh with the arcuate rack 12 so that the leaning of the wheels l1, I! may be reversed. When themoldboard is operated in steep bank-cutting position, the leaning of the front wheels will be held in adjusted position by reason of the self-locking nature of the worm gearing 99, 19. It will thus be seen that irre-' spective of the relative positions of the pinion 1| and arcuate rack 12 the front wheels will be able to resist the lateral thrust exerted on the machine during operation of the moldboard along a steep bank at one side of they path of travel 01' the machine. a

' ends of the channel The drawbar 9| as shown in Figs..1 and 2, comprises a narrow elongated front end 82 connected by an intermediate curved portion to a rear horizontal T-shaped frame which carries the circle 83. As shown in Fig. 2, the drawbar may comprise two angle irons welded together with their horizontal flanges at the bottom so that a plate 95 may be welded along the upper edges of the angl iron and slotted at its forward end portion to slide down over and be welded to the vertical legs of the angle irons.

The front end of the drawbar is provided with a universal connection 99 to the steering post 59. The lower end of the steering post 59 is provided with a plate 89 which is adapted to rest on the circular support 81 at cap 42 as shown in Fig. 5. Passing through the above the plate 99 are the legs of a U-bolt 88, the free ends of which are threaded to receive the nuts 89, 89. The U-bolt 88 interloops the eye-bolt 99 the forward end of which is adapted to fit into an arcuate recess 9|, as shown in Fig. 6. The rear end of the eye-bolt 99 is provided with a shank 92 which is swiveledin the socket 93 which is secured to the bottom of the front end of the drawbar. The rear end of the shank 92 is threaded at 94 to receive a nut 95 which may be lockedin adjusted position with the flange 96 on the shank 92 resting against the forward end of the socket 93. It will thus be seen by referring to Figs. 1 and 6 that the drawbar 8| may turn on its swiveled connection at 92, 93 relatively to the steering post 59 and moreover the drawbar 8| may swing laterally upon an upright axis at 9| along the U-bolt 89. Furthermore, the drawbar 9| may swing up and down while the eye-bolt is pivoted on the U-bolt 88 and in the arcuate recess 9|.

It should be particularly noted that the lateral walls of the arcuate recess 9| confine the eyebolt 99 to predetermined positions relative to the U-bolt 88. In other words, the upright, arcuate grooved bearing 9| confines the eye-bolt 99 to pivotal and circular movements relatively to the post 59 by maintaining the forward end of the eye in a predetermined position relative to the post. The upright grooved bearing 9| may be formed by integral extensions at the rear of the post. The rear ends of such extensions may even be engaged by the inner surface of the U-bolt 98 to prevent the latter from clamping the eye '99. It will thus be seen that the flexible connection between the front end of the drawbar and the post 59 is such that the eye-bolt 99 may have lateral swinging movements on a fixed vertical axis relative to the post and may also have upright rotary movements, the front end of the eye member being movable also on upright arcs tangential to such vertical axis. Considering the U-bolt 89 as a clevis, it may be said that the eye 99 interloops such clevis for flexibly connecting the front end of the drawbar 8| tothe post 59 and that the structure 9| of the upright arcuate groove constitutes mechanism on the post in position to act as an abutment to limit movement of the clevis when secured thereto and that such abutment mechanism is provided with an upright groove to receive the eye of the eye-bolt 99 to confine the latter to lateral swinging movements and to upright circular movements relatively to the post.

It should be particularly noted'that the steering post 59 is rigidly connected to the forward beam I8, l9 and therefore the upper end of the 2,323,110 to thefirward end of the. main frame. The universaltonnection at the forward end of the drawbar-gill! is therefore in reality connected to the front end' of the main frame and the parts are so ,closely related that no relative vibration between them is possible irrespective of the various high lift grading positions to which the grader blade has been adj usted.

The recess Si is therefore an important feature because it confines the eye-bolt it against vibration relative to the U-bolt I! and yet the desired universal connection is maintained. It should also be noted by referring to Figs. 1 and 5 that great flexibility between the steering unit and the main frame is provided for the travel of the steering unit over irregular ground surfaces but nevertheless the drawbar 8| may always b maintained in rigid connection to the main frame during grading operations and bank sloping-operations.

As shown in Fig. 5, the post 50 is provided with a depending bearing 2 in which is journaled the vertical shaft 81. In a circular groove at the lower end of the journal bearing 2 is a, washer 295 on which is supported the cup-shaped washer at.

If desired the washer 205 may bein two semi circular sections easily placed in the circular groove when the cup 205 is slid up along the.

journal bearing 2M. When the cup 208 is permitted to drop down over the semi-circular sections 'of the washer 205, the latter is locked to the lower end of the bearingltl. in' g may be effected by passing a wire through holes in the depending skirt of the cup 206 and extending such wire transversely under the lower end of the bearing :04 and twisting together the free ends of the wire. By means of this arrangement the steering wheel unit may be removed from the main frame when desired.

This structure permits the front end of the main frame to be maintained in adjusted .position during operation of the moldboard while the steering wheel unit is free to move up and down and tilt in opposite directions to the extent allowed by the cup 208 bumping against the bottom of the ring 81. In other words, the steering wheel unit has great flexibility relative to the main frame as it travels over rough ground which has not as yet been acted on by the moldboard.

This application is filed as a division of my co-pending application 5. N. 323,586, filed March 12, 1940, for an improvement in Road graders, but it should also be noted that the semi-uni- .versal connecting mechanism between the front end of the drawbar and the king-post, shown in Figs. 1 and 6, hasalso been disclosed in my copending application, Ser. No. 241,979, filed November 23,1938, now Patent No. 2,247,007, dated June 24, 1941, for an improvement in Road graders. The parent application Ser. No. 323,586 is therefore a continuation in part of Ser. No. 241,979 as regards the semi-universal connecting mechanism. I

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed,

Having thus described and shown an embodi- Further lock-.

ment of my invention what -I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A road grader comprising a vehicle frame comprising spaced-apart beams at the forward end thereof, a front post, an integral rearward extension from said post between the front ends of said beams and welded thereto, a front wheel steering. unit comprising an axle tree with a bolster rigidly mounted thereon, a circular flange on said post and resting on said bolster, the lower end of said post extending downwardly through a an opening in said bolster, means for leaning the front wheels relative to said bolster, andmechanlsm extending through said rearward extension and down through said post to said leaning wheel means for operating the latter.

2. A road grader comprising the combination with a vehicle frame having spaced-apart side members at its forward end, an upright post,

an integral rearward extension from said post fitting between said side members and welded thereto, a front axle tree, a bolster rigidly mounted on said axle tree and having an opening in its top to receive the lower end portion of said post, a circular flange on said post in position to rest on top of said bolster, mechanism 'on said post between said rearward extensionand said circular flange for flexibly connecting a moldboard carrying drawbar to said post, front supporting wheels, mechanism con-'- necting said wheels and axle tree for adjusting the-leaning of said wheelsv relative to said bolster, and means extending from said vehicle frame through said rearward extension and down through said post to said leaning wheel mechanism for operating the latter while said circular flange rests on said bolster and while said post remains flexibly connected to the drawbar.

3. In a road grader, the combination with a main frame, of a front steering wheel unit comprising an axle, a bolster mounted on said axle,

a king post rigid with said frame and extending downwardly through an upper opening in said bolster, a washer in sections in an annular groove in the lower end of said king post, and an annular collar of larger diameter than said opening and slidable along said king post to a position over said washer sections to lock the latter in said groove, the construction and arrangement being such that by sliding said collar upwardly said washer sections may be removed to permit said collar to be removed from said king post and the latter removed from said bolster.

4. A road grader comprising a vehicle frame comprising spaced-apart beams at the forward end thereof, a front post, an integral rearward hollow extension from said post between the front ends of said beams and welded thereto, a front wheel steering unit comprising an axle-tree with a bolster rigidly mounted thereon, a circular flange on said post and resting on said bolster,

the lower end of said post extending downwardly v welded thereto. a front axle-tree, a bolster rigidly mounted on said axle-tree and having an opening in its top to receive the lower end portion of said post, a circular flange on said post in position to rest on top oi said bolster, mechanism on said post between said rearward extension and said circular flange for flexibly connecting a moldboard carrying drawbar to said post, front supporting wheels, mechanism connecting said wheels and axle-tree for ad- 10 FRANKLIN E. ARNDT. 

